In Exchange For Your Time, I Give You This Smile
by WinterSky101
Summary: Caleb meets the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. Caleb (Kanan)/Hera. Seventh in "Reinvent Love."


**A quick reminder: Caleb Dume is Kanan Jarrus's real name, and because of the canon divergence in this 'verse, he still goes by it.**

* * *

Caleb is practicing his katas (and bored out of his _mind_) when the door to the training room he's in opens. He quickly extinguishes his lightsaber and stands at attention, falling into the Jedi habits he should probably try to break at some point. He's glad he hasn't done it yet, though, because through the door comes Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, a tall Twi'lek man, and the most beautiful girl Caleb has ever seen. She's a Twi'lek as well, and her skin is a beautiful mossy green, and Caleb is immediately smitten.

"It's an honor to have you here, General Syndulla," Master Kenobi (who's told Caleb to call him Obi-Wan but is still firmly Master Kenobi in Caleb's mind) is saying. "If you'll follow me, we can continue our discussion inside."

"And my daughter?" the tall Twi'lek asks.

"Caleb," Master Skywalker (Caleb can't think of him by his first name either) calls, and Caleb scurries over immediately. "General Syndulla, this is Caleb Dume, one of the students at our academy. He's about the same age as your daughter, he can keep her company."

Syndulla scrutinizes Caleb, who tries to look as responsible as possible. "Very well," he finally says. "Hera, I will be back soon. Stay here with this Caleb Dume."

"Yes, Father," Hera says. Syndulla gives Caleb one last look, then he follows Masters Kenobi and Skywalker into another room, leaving Caleb alone with Hera.

"Hi," Caleb manages. "I'm Caleb."

"I'm Hera. How old are you?"

"Sixteen and a half," Caleb says, puffing out his chest a little. He's not really _that_ muscular, but there's no harm in trying to show off what he _does_ have, is there? "How old are you?"

"Thirteen," Hera says. It's a bit younger than Caleb expected, but it's not _too_ much younger than him. Anyway, he knows that Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi and Empress Amidala are all married, and they've got way bigger age gaps.

(It may be a _little_ quick to be thinking about marriage.)

"Was that your father?" Caleb asks. He regrets the words the second they're out of his mouth. Of _course_ that was Hera's father, she _called_ him Father.

"Yeah," Hera says. Thankfully, she's not looking at Caleb like he's the stupidest person she's ever seen. "My mother and my brother are home on Ryloth, but my father said he would take me to Coruscant if I wanted to come."

"Do you like politics?" Caleb asks, trying to think of why someone would want to come to Coruscant. Force-sensitives come here for training, of course, but why would people come here otherwise?

"Not really," Hera says. "I want to be a pilot."

"A pilot?" Caleb repeats. "I know how to fly ships."

"So do I," Hera replies, looking very proud. "My father says I'm pretty good at it."

"I'm sure you are," Caleb agrees, which is maybe a little weird, but Hera doens't seem bothered. "Do you want to fly on Coruscant?"

"I want to fly everywhere," Hera says. "I want to have a job where I just fly around all the time. And I think I want to join the Army of the Republic."

"You want to join the Army of the Republic?" Caleb repeats. "It's not even called that anymore."

"The Imperial Army, then," Hera says. "I want to join."

"Why?" Caleb asks. He was only fourteen when the Clone Wars ended, so he didn't fight in too many battles, but he remembers how terrifying they were. He was a Jedi in training, so he didn't really have any choice other than to be part of the army, but he can't imagine someone _deciding_ to join it.

"I want to help people," Hera says, bristling a little. "My father freed Ryloth when we were occupied by the Separatists. The Army helped too. If anything like that ever happens again, I want to help."

"You don't have to join the army to help people," Caleb counters. "I wanna help people, but I don't want to fight."

"But sometimes you need to fight," Hera counters. "On Ryloth, some people tried getting rid of the Separatists without fighting, but they wouldn't leave. They only left when we forced them to go."

"I guess," Caleb says, hoping Hera can't hear how doubtful he is. "But you could also do other stuff to help people. Like helping bring relief to places that need it." Relief missions were always Caleb's favorite when he was still a Padawan. He's done a few with Ahsoka since then, but he always wishes he could do more.

Hera's brow furrows slightly. "I could do both," she suggests. "I could do relief missions for people who needed relief missions, and I could do fighting missions for people who needed someone to fight for them."

"Maybe you could do it with a partner," Caleb says. He's not being too obvious, is he?

"I have a droid," Hera says. "He could help me."

"I could help you too," Caleb says, which is definitely too obvious, but Hera didn't pick up on his hint, so he doesn't have another choice. "Having a Jedi along with you would be good on relief missions or in fights."

Hera looks contemplative. "Maybe," she finally says. "But I'd have to get to know you better first."

"I can give you my comm frequency," Caleb offers immediately. "We can talk. And we can hang out if you come back to Coruscant or I visit Ryloth."

"Okay," Hera says, "but once I start training as a pilot, that comes first."

"I'm allowed to take the ships out for short trips," Caleb says, which is only stretching the truth a little. "We could go somewhere sometime."

Hera's face lights up. "I would get to fly," she says immediately. It's not a question but a statement, and not one that Caleb has any desire to refute.

"Of course," he says. "As practice, for your training."

A wide smile creeps its way across Hera's face. "Caleb Dume, you have a deal."

They talk for a bit longer and exchange comm frequencies before Hera's father and Masters Kenobi and Skywalker come back to the training room. "Hera!" Syndulla calls. "It's time to go."

"Yes, Father!" Hera agrees, running over to her father's side. She offers Caleb a wave, which he returns with a sheepish grin, and then they leave.

"I'm gonna marry that girl," Caleb says to the room at large once the door shuts.

Master Skywalker laughs and tousles Caleb's hair. "Sure you are, kiddo."


End file.
